The world inside the novel was vast.

Meeting ‘Kaiel Ceder’, who was a Duke of a province, was difficult due to the low status of the body she possessed.

All she had was the status of a noble, being the daughter of Baron Averbit, who had bought his title with money as he was originally a merchant.

It was impossible to just go and seek out Grand Duke Kaiel Ceder in Tranade.

Tranade was a very harsh place to travel to alone, and it was not easy for the daughter of a mere baron to request a meeting with the Grand Duke.

She thought about giving up, but the system was not lenient.

Penalty.

As Delia’s thoughts reached this point, the innkeeper’s clearing throat broke her attention.

“Ahem.”

The innkeeper, who had picked up the dropped cup, asked her cautiously.

“So, why is that person such a piece of trash?”

“Ah.”

After taking a sip of her drink, she began to speak.

“He’s really… a terrible person, that Duke.”

Delia’s words were enough to imprint the Duke of Tranade as a villain in people’s minds.

“It was a warm afternoon with the sun shining. Everyone knows His Highness, the beautiful Crown Prince of Sheriton. The prince who everyone loves and who shines brightly. When he was young, he fell seriously ill and was on the brink of death. Guess who caused that illness?”

People focused intently on her continuing story, thinking ‘no way’.

“It was the trashy Duke! When he was young, that trashy Duke deliberately fed the Crown Prince poisonous herbs. Because of that, His Highness suffered for two weeks before barely recovering. How cunning must he have been even as a child?”

People murmured.

“And that’s not all. Whenever there’s a war or battle, he throws himself into it recklessly. How could he not be cruel? Even if someone begs for their life, he mercilessly beheads them without batting an eye. Isn’t that a demon in human skin?”

When she compared the Grand Duke of Tranade to a demon in human skin, Delia felt a pang of guilt in her heart.

She was an author. Making up stories, whether true or not, was as easy as pie. It was just that she didn’t like having to badmouth her favorite character.

Ding.

The system notified her again of the plausibility score increase.

[You have tarnished the reputation of the villain Kaiel.]
[Plausibility score increases by 3 points.]

The reason she went around spreading rumors about how trashy Kaiel Ceder, the Duke of Tranade, was…

It was because of this plausibility score.

As time passed in the novel world without her meeting Kaiel, the plausibility score gradually decreased.

And every time the plausibility score dropped, a penalty appeared.

Penalties ranged from minor bad luck, like tripping over a stone, stepping in dog poop, or getting splashed by a passing carriage.

However, these trivial penalties happened so frequently that they gradually irritated her.

Moreover, the lower the plausibility score, the more severe the penalties became. She was even more afraid because she didn’t know what would happen if the score dropped below a certain level.

‘What can I do?’

She had to do this.

She couldn’t imagine what would have happened if the plausibility score hadn’t increased on the day she drunkenly badmouthed him out of frustration.

Her initial worry about what to do when she met him lasted only about a month. After that, she just thought she had to meet him somehow to do anything.

‘I’ll run into him soon enough.’

She consoled herself with this thought.

But this lifestyle continued until the chilly autumn arrived after summer had passed.

She didn’t hear any news about the palace or the Grand Duke. Even though she was the author of the story, she couldn’t tell where she was in the plot because she was so far removed from the main characters.

She couldn’t wait any longer and tried to leave for Tranade, but her parents strongly opposed and blocked her. Perhaps because she was their only precious daughter, they treated her like a valuable jewel. They would flip out if she got even a scratch.

In the end, she failed to leave for Tranade and was scolded to stay put and behave.

She had been enduring and waiting, using the excuse that she was quite satisfied with the life of an ordinary noble lady. Now, winter was approaching after autumn had passed.

Delia began to think it might be more possible to meet Santa than Kaiel Ceder.

She had adapted to the speech and lifestyle of this novel world so well that she blended in naturally.

Time had passed, making her initial determination and worries seem pointless.

As usual, Delia was secretly at the village tavern, badmouthing the Grand Duke of Tranade. She had been going around nearby villages spreading rumors and had returned to this tavern run by the innkeeper Heather.

“His cute appearance as a child is gone, and now he’s nothing but a beast.”

She had run out of things to say and was now even disparaging his appearance.

“His face is hideous, his eyes are dead, his skin is rough, his hair is disheveled, and his teeth stick out like a boar’s.”

“Oh my! I knew it! I heard he’s terribly gloomy. To think he looks like a hideous boar!”

“I know well. He’s very ugly. Definitely a boar.”

Delia gulped down a glass of somaek and pouted.

In reality, she pictured his outstandingly handsome face in her mind.

“But now I don’t know. I haven’t seen him at all….”

“It’s better if a person like that doesn’t come to Sheriton.”

The innkeeper Heather clicked his tongue.

Thanks to Delia’s efforts, people in nearby villages trembled at the mention of the Grand Duke of Tranade. Even children would burst into tears and run away at the sound of his name.

“If he comes, Heather, you should give him a good scolding. Not that….”

Delia suddenly stopped talking.

Ding.

A notification sound rang in her ears. But it wasn’t the familiar notification sound that made her stop.

Status window.

The status window was strange.

It wasn’t the usual plausibility score window or penalty window.

Her body shivered.

The red letters of the system window flickered before her eyes as if to emphasize.

[The system has detected the presence of the villain.]
[The distance to the villain ‘Kaiel’ is getting closer.]

The villain she had been waiting for so long had appeared.

Kaiel Ceder,

finally.

***

Delia felt like her heart had dropped to her toes and barely returned.

The continuous notification sounds heightened her nerves. She immediately turned her head to check her surroundings, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh… nothing….”

The innkeeper Heather followed her gaze around the tavern, but there were only familiar customers, nothing unusual.

Looking puzzled, Heather asked Delia again.

“Did you see a ghost? Oh my, you’re sweating….”

Delia’s auburn hair stuck to her cheeks with sweat, making it curl even more.

Heather quickly picked the cleanest handkerchief from the drawer and handed it to her. But Delia, too tense, didn’t even take the handkerchief she offered.

She swallowed dryly.

Right now, she felt a mix of tension, excitement, fear, and anticipation, an indescribable emotion.

‘I want to hide.’

Delia suddenly felt she wasn’t ready to face him directly.

Had the three changing seasons not been enough time to prepare her mind to meet him in person?

Despite eagerly awaiting the meeting with Kaiel, Delia wanted to hide.

In a hurry, she pulled up the hood of her cloak to cover her face. The shadow of the hood properly concealed her small face, with her auburn curls peeking out.

Seeing her, the innkeeper Heather shook her head.

“What on earth is going on….”

Just as she was about to place the handkerchief next to Delia.

Creak.

The old wooden door of the tavern opened with a heavy sound. Although it was a door that opened hundreds of times a day, for some reason, at this moment, everyone in the tavern’s attention was drawn to the opening door.

More precisely, to the man who walked in through the door.

A cold draft blew in through the open door. The wind instantly extinguished the candles near the door. The atmosphere created by this only accentuated the man’s chilling appearance.

A tall man dressed in black from head to toe, with a black cloak draped over his shoulders.

‘It’s Kaiel.’